Where is the forward button? Writing for digital media in secondary education

Abstract

The Digital Storytelling is the working title of a project which awaits its main actors – high school students – to give it its name and final shape. The project has been developed at St.Vincent’s College, Potts Point and will be realised in co-operation with school-partners who have been invited to participate in the project. Different groups of high school students will be asked to respond to a range of literary and historical texts by using digital media to develop stories about their creative or analytical interpretations of chosen texts. The project will include research into students’ engagement with digital media and an evaluation of any impact of the project on students’ skills and knowledge, particularly their transliteracy skills. A range of qualitative and quantitative data will be gathered and compared among cohorts of students participating in the study. The Digital Storytelling has been conceptualised within the framework of the Australian National Year of Reading 2012, which provides a context to invigorate discussions about writing for new media and roles of high schools in students’ preparation for living and working in increasingly digital environments.